also Frances Tudor Edwardes, nursing sister, SRN, who died
March 16th 1945.

The story of the sisters is a puzzle as there is
no record of them in the England and Wales Index of Births, but we
suspect they were the daughters of William Edwards and Margaret
Francis of Clun in Shropshire.

Emmie Tudor Edwardes

We think Emmie may have been born Emma Edwards at
Clun
in Shropshire, to the west of Ludlow close to the Welsh border, about 1862.

In 1871 Emma was living with her father William, a
farm bailiff, mother Margaret, and siblings Elizabeth, William, and
Fanny the youngest, at Little Brompton Cottage adjacent to Little
Brompton farmhouse.

In 1881 aged 19 she was still living with her parents
in the parish of Castle Church in Staffordshire. Her brother William
was then working for a brewery and her father was recorded as an unemployed
farm bailiff.

Emma could not be found in the 1891 census, but the 1901 census records
an Emmie Edwards, hospital
nurse (not domestic), at Britannia Square in Worcester in the household of Jocelyn
Jervis-White-Jervis, a Retired Navy Commander, born France, aged 72,
suffering from paralysis.

Commander Jocelyn Jervis-White-Jervis RN, born
1828, died 8th March 1909 in the district of Steyning in Sussex, was well connected. He was the son of
Irish born Sir Henry Meredyth Jervis-White-Jervis (1793-1869), 2nd
baronet, Commander Royal Navy, and brother of
Henry Jervis-White-Jervis a British Army Officer and
Conservative MP.

The 1911 census records that Emma Edwards, a
hospital nurse aged 39, had moved to Caramia, 8 Wish Road, Hove in
Sussex. Living with her was her sister Fanny also a hospital nurse.
Kelly's directory of 1911 lists Miss Tudor Edwardes (nurse) at the
same address, so it seems likely that the sisters embellished
their surname to further their careers in nursing.

State Registration of Nurses, following the
British Nursing Act of 1919, started in 1923;
Ethel Gordon Fenwick was the first name entered on the register.

The National Probate Calendar records Emmie
latterly lived at St David's on the Wells Road in Great Malvern and that
the Revd Newson, Rector
of Guarlford, was an executor of her will.

There is a modern three bedroom house named St
David's at 117 Wells Road, just south of the junction with
Peachfield Road.

Frances Tudor Edwardes

We think Frances was born Fanny Edwards, Clun,
Shropshire about 1866. In 1871 she was living with her parents; then
in 1881 aged only 15 she was a domestic nurse in the household of Joseph
Moss a railway contractor in Castle Church, the same town as her
parents.

Following her father's death, the 1891 census
records Fannie Edwards and her widowed mother Margaret 'living on
own means' at South Claines on the edge of Worcester. Later the 1911
census records Fanny as a hospital nurse living with her sister in
Hove.

It is not known what the sisters did during the
Great War.

Parents

Their place and date of birth points to the
sisters being the daughters of farm bailiff William Edwards (1831-
1887) and Margaret Francis (1833-1892) who married at Clun in
Shropshire in 1854. Margaret's father Jeremiah was an agricultural
labourer.

William and Margaret had four children Elizabeth, William, Emma
and Fanny.

We have an inkling that the sisters' parents
William and Margaret are buried in Guarlford churchyard next to
their two youngest daughters; next to the sisters' grave is a large
stone cross (see photo below) and the inscription on the pedestal reads:

In loving memory of William Edwards died 18th
June 1887 aged 54 years 'Them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him'.

Margaret beloved wife of the above died 25th
September 1892 aged 58 years. 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God.'

It is one of the larger memorials in the
churchyard and must have been expensive, so perhaps it was jointly
funded by the four children.

We do not know what the family's connection with
Guarlford was. Possibly either William and Mary had followed their daughters who
seem to have found employment in the Worcester area, or William
found a farm bailiff position on a local estate.

In those days, nurses are likely to have
frequently come into contact with the clergy through caring for and
ministering to the sick and elderly.

Siblings

Emma and Fanny Edwards had an elder
sister Elizabeth and brother William. Elizabeth does not appear with her parents in the
1881 census so may have either died or married.

William Edwards (1860-1929) married Harriett
Powell (1866-1943). They moved to
Wem in Shropshire where he worked
for a brewery company. Their many children were, William Vincent, Harry
Sydney, Alice Lillian Allsop, George, Frank, Emily May, Charles
Harold, Alfred Percy, and Walter James. So while Emmie and Frances
never married, there may be descendants of their nephews and nieces.
Two are mentioned below.

Nephews

William Vincent Edwards

Eldest nephew William Vincent Edwards born Wem
Shropshire in 1885 became an electrical engineer and emigrated to
Canada where he married on 27th November 1918 at Welland, Ontario,
Marjorie Challen White who was born Bristol 1899.

In 1924 the couple are recorded arriving at
Liverpool from Quebec.

Harry Sydney Edwards

Rifleman 8493 Harry Sydney Edwards 2nd Bn the
Rifle Brigade was killed in action on Sunday 9th May 1915 in Flanders,
aged 28 years. He had originally enlisted in
1902 aged 15 years, giving his age as 17 years and 10 months. In 1911
he was a brewery worker like his father and in 1913 he worked
as a labourer on the railway. He is remembered on the
war memorial at Wem in Shropshire.

That is all we have been able to piece together,
so far. If you can add to or correct this story please get in touch (see contact on
home page).